Feral Northern Shifters 2

get far away from here, then shift, talk and reassess the situation.
Bram allowed Ethan to take the lead.
While Ethan could run faster, Bram had more stamina, despite his skinniness. They had to stop a few times for Ethan’s sake and it was close to four hours later when Ethan led Bram directly into the cave.
They turned and faced each other. It was awkward being animals, even if they were comfortable as lovers. So Ethan stalked over and purred, rubbing his head against Bram’s face and neck, and was licked in response.
After that mutual reassurance, Ethan retreated to shift to human. Because, God, they really had to talk. Shifting twice in a short period of time took its toll and he braced himself for the forcible rearrangement of muscle and bone. He fell into grayness, then black.
When he woke, he didn’t know where he was and why the fuck he wasn’t panicked that nearby a werewolf lay on his side, panting heavily.
He just knew this was a friend. Ethan crawled over and memory descended. Bram. Lover. Wolf. On the run.
Bram, Ethan managed to recall—two shifts in one day was disorienting—had trouble shifting to human. So Ethan sat beside him, stroking his warm, dark fur until it finally began to recede. At that point Ethan sang the song he’d heard on the radio on the way home, before switching over to some Beatles songs his mother had sung to him as a boy. Anything to lure Bram’s body over to the human side.
It worked. The wolf receded and Bram came to the forefront, first unconscious but then quickly waking, even more confused by the shift back and forth than Ethan had been. Bram blinked, fear entering his eyes but leaving with a gratifyingly rapid speed. “Hello?”
“Hi, Bram, it’s Ethan.”
Bram’s gaze circled around the cave as if that could give him more context.
Ethan smiled and said the words he’d, rightly or wrongly, been withholding, waiting for the perfect time. “I love you.”
Bram looked behind him, as if Ethan might be talking to someone else. Okay, Ethan had not made such a declaration before and Bram didn’t quite yet remember who he was or what they were doing. But still Ethan was scared enough by the events of today to speak it. In case he wasn’t able to in the future.
“Yeah, you , Bram.” He touched Bram’s face lightly with a knuckle, wanting to make contact without overwhelming him. “But never mind. We’ve been living together for, well, not too long. We’re in trouble right now.”
At that, recognition and memory took hold, and Bram jerked to sitting, gasping, hand on his heart. Ethan slid a palm over Bram’s shoulders and he trembled at the touch, rather like those first few days, but then he leaned into Ethan, wrapping his arms around him, and spoke against Ethan’s neck. “Doug’s disappeared. Trey probably can’t even track him.”
“Shit.”
They sat there for a moment, taking the news in, Ethan for the first time, and Bram for the second time. Eventually, Bram asked, “How did you know?”
“I didn’t,” Ethan said quietly. “Someone ran me off the road.”
Bram jolted back and looked at Ethan full on. “Are you okay?”
“Better than the car,” Ethan said wryly. “I jumped out the window. Only some scrapes and bruises which are mostly healed from the shifts.”
Bram kissed him, hands sinking into Ethan’s hair as he took possession of Ethan’s mouth, tasting, searching, reassuring. Ethan returned the kiss, wishing that this was somehow a way to protect Bram, but it wasn’t. He tamped down the kiss. Normally he was wired after a shift, but it had been two shifts and four hours of running and a lot of fear and adrenaline. They needed to eat and drink from Ethan’s supplies, and Ethan needed to listen.
Because something didn’t make sense about this afternoon. He scrambled to the back of the cave and picked up energy drinks and nutrition bars.
He shoved them both into Bram’s hands, and then they were guzzling and vacuuming up food. Bram was even worse off than Ethan because he had fewer resources and still needed to fatten up after being too skinny for too long.
By the time they were done eating, Bram was fading and fast. He reached for Ethan. “No sex?”
“I think not right at this moment.”
“I thought that was a big benefit of being, uh, together.” He was slurring his words.
Ethan pulled him into his arms and held him. “Usually. Today’s a bit of an exception.”
At that Bram opened his eyes and stared at Ethan, worry there,